Comments on: Rumor: Picture of the Tungsten T

Onto real matters... is anyone concerned about that lower part sliding down and wearing out as folks rest their hand on it to write in the grafitti area? Unlike a keyboard being in the uncovered area that would require now hand resting as you thumb type. By the way... I don't like the keyboards, just a thought on why one slide works and another doesn't last.

Hmmm... that may come across negative, then I would be here 'trolling'. How about...

I love the way the lower area slides down to rest my hand on it when writing. Palm has thought of everything. As the lower part loosens and gives me plenty or warning that it is about to break, I will alter my writing style and thus be a better person. Cool!!

Some people here are afraid to make observations and express opinions before the product is released ("Don't knock it till you try it"[in voice of snotty second grader}) Well, thats fine for some "box thinkers...lets call them Zire users" If we can't go to Best Buy and play with it the least you can let us do is talk about it! So, yes I think the sliding grafitti cover is a bad move and will probably break or wear out with alot of use. This first model is a nogo for my dollar but I am anxious for the next round!

That is a good philosophy when gathering information about a device in a competitive market. Positive comments are probably true, but doubt the negative chatter - chances are good you are not getting the straight story. You can quickly check it out yourself.
If I were competing with a new device, you can bet your home that I would be posting "seeds of doubt" on this web site.

Guess what PAL...... Whatever device you buy will have moving parts....Buttons, Maybe hinges,etc. If you don't like that, good luck trying to find a pda that DOESN'T have moving parts. It (Tungsten)still is thin and solid. By the way.........our STUFF(cars,etc)break too!!! Maybe you need to buy a Pocket PC PDA? Or do you have one already??

The worst stylus belongs to the Sharp Linuxed Zaurus. It is a fat stub. Maybe this one will be like that too.

Probably, but you never know. This model is only 0.4" smaller than (for example) the m515. How much of the stylus could they possibly shorten it? But, since this is thicker than the m515, could it be that the stylus is also thicker as well?

: -- and, since Sony's people designed this, why not just
: "standardize" the styluses between them?

Well, I don't know if it was specifically stated that they were the _only_ ones to work on the design. I think it was mentioned that they helped work on it, but not design it completely themselves.

You're right, though, we'll have to just wait and see. Can't wait to see other company's first OS5 offerings.

Exciting. :)

Jim

I am betting that the expertise the ex-Sony engineers supplied went into the electronics, rather than the industrial design.

IDEO (www.ideo.com) are a great industrial design shop that worked on the Palm V series, and the Treo for Handspring (among others visit the site - esp if you are a student of HCI/CHI or Industrial Design). Makes you wonder if they had a hand in this one as well.

As for a prior msg stating that IDEO worked on the Visors -- I'd be shocked if that was true. I read the book from IDEO's Chief -- no mention of the Visor, but the Palm V is detailed.

According to IDEO's web site, the firm designed all of Handspring's core products:
www.ideo.com/portfolio/list.asp?p=&c=Handspring&k=&s=&so=4

For most other pda uses the hard graffitti area is always being used, especially on the palm operating system which was desgined around the graffitti input area.

OK, in 1995 it was fine and dandy. Its now 2002, almost 2003. Time to move on. Just because Graffiti works for some people doesn't make it easy. If you could just write words on the screen in your own handwriting and have them converted to text, wouldn't you agree that would be easier?

As for the comment about "those who want to read ebooks, buy an ebook reader" that's just dumb. There wouldn't even be an ebook market if it weren't for Palm, and the Palm -- even the original screen, works just fine for ebooks. I'd even say that there's little advantage for [other PDAs] or Sony's larger screens when it comes to ebooks. So, when I buy this Palm, I WILL be buying an ebook reader.

Personally, I think that the slide out screen is silly. It adds to the thickness of the unit and makes it more cumbersome to use. I hate to think what will happen when dust and lint get in between the sliding parts. The NR70 series shows that moving parts on handhelds are not robust enough to deal with day to day use - Palm should learn from the mistakes of others; rather than trying to copy them.

If Palm thinks it can win market share by trying to outdo the latest gimmick offered by other manufacturers, then maybe they have really lost their way after all.

The m515 is .5 inches thick - the Tungsten T is .6 inches thick. Not really much of a difference. Besides - the m515 is 4.5 x 3.1 inches while this is 4 x 3 inches (4.8 inches with graffiti open).

I love the NR70!! But to say that Sony hasn't had it's share of problems. Just look at the fact that they are talking about not using that design any more. Too expensive to build? Maybe, Sony doesn't normally shy away from expense though. Magnesium versus plastic.

Palm simply cannot let go of the old tech -- hard grafitti which NO ONE uses anymore if they can avoid it and a teeny tiny square screen. Only the low-end garbage will use this on Sony devices and Handera woke up a long, long, time ago about the waste of space graffiti silkscreen. When Palm figures out 320 x 480, I'll seriously consider looking at one of their devices.

I hope Sony makes an OS 5 version of the NR70. Aside from the lack of a d pad (yes, I want it for games!) it's perfect for me.

I don't see why the stylus needs to be short. Sony fits a full length one in the SJ-series and it is the same length.

For me, that would make the Palm the ultimate device. I'll wait."

--------

Sounds great. You can file this under "wouldn't it be great if....".

1. 802.11b is already (or will be) the facto standard in NETWORKING.
2. If you make 802.11b faster (TI has done such thing with there ACX100 802.11 technology and makes 802.11b run 22Mbps) then the battery will drain even more then it is now.
3. Greater distance is possible i think. But it has to come from somewhere if you know what i mean.
4. Both 802.11a (is here today and in reality 22mbps-54mbps) and 802.11g (coming, backward compatable with 802.11b, not yet aproved by the FCC) drain even more battery then 802.11b
5. There will never be AN ultimate device imho.

The 802.11 Alphabet Soup
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/buyersguide/article.php/1440011 (Geier is the man to beat here....)

Dual mode chipsets (e.g Bluetooth-802.11a/b/g) are the way to go imho. There will be....patience.

It will really be nice when you are working away on the grafiti area and the cover keeps sliding shut on you, similar to the virutal grafiti opening and closing for no reason.

PPC here I come :)

FYI... There is a mini thumb-keyboard under the retracting cover. You get it, plus the normal pop-up handwriting recognition and pop-up (software) keyboard. Quite a nice design.

Although I'm still a Palm platform fan (I have a HandEra 330 I use for day-to-day & work), I just got the Zaurus SL-5500 to "play" with. Mmmmmm, runs Linux!

You're getting greedy. :)

The d-pad can be used to move up and down and left and right. The jog dial is just up and down. Really, the jog dial is just a reshaped up/down rocker switch, like palms have always had, while the d-pad is whole navigation tool.

Games will no longer have to fake a d-pad with the existing buttons. Action games will be much more playable.

The d-pad can be used by both left and right handed people. The jog dial is just for right righties.

I was thinking the same thing. Cool idea, BUT, ever wonder why the Nokia 8xxx weren't sold like that in the USA? Because Nokia got sued by some fool that "put their eye out when the latch released". Same sort of idiot that sue because they got hot coffee without a warning label that contents might be hot.

Last thing Palm needs is another meaningless lawsuit, but at least "criminal neglect" would be a change over "patent infringement".

Sony is not doomed, they are still making money even if you buy Palm(tm) instead Clié(tm).

From whom did you hear this? I don't know of any store(s) that take old PDAs on trade-in for PPC hardware. And even if this is true...I certainly don't have a problem with this scheme. Sounds like a good competitive business strategy to me.

ARe you kidding? Have you heard of the Zaurus? This is a complete knockoff of that design. Where's the unique? Where's the original.

-- Craig Bowers

Not so many years ago, VGA was a luxury, not a standard. I STILL know people that consider 1600x1200 on a 20" monitor to be too small for everyday use.

There will always be folks who want more resolution. ALWAYS. IBM made a Palmtop PC in Japan (PC110) that did full 640x480 VGA in less real estate than the NR70 screen. And it looked wonderful. If old Blue had bothered to continue that line of portables past the 486, I'da NEVER bought a PDA.

Don't underestimate the appeal of more for less. And remember that the one who ends up with the most software written for their platform, WINS. Regardless of whether it's the best, or whether it gets shipped buggier than Naked Lunch.

KEEP WRITING PALMOS SOFTWARE AND REGISTER YOUR SHAREWARE!!!!!!!!!!!

What matters is the trend ,allI know is a few yeards ago (2 maybe) Palm has like 80-90% of the market now 3x% .. !? ... you still don't see Palm is at the edge of dying ??

David

They ask for a Palm OS device, and make that a Sony.

the reason we are complaining is that yes there
is problem, and no Palm does not what to fix it.

It is obvious that the rest of the world shares
are exact feelings others explain why palm stock
is trading FOR $ .80 CENTS, if this was a great
company with great products and on time innovations
or had a clue, they would be trading at a much higher rate.

So not only does the user community think this company
is DOA, but the investment community who has much more
insite to the inter-workings of upper management than you or I will ever have, realize that products being
released or not going to be winners.

So get a clue SIR.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee....

SONY RULEZ!!!!!!!!

here are a few of the mouth-watering features that palm definitely won't have!:

1. a digital still and VIDEO camera that can record M

2. all the built-in palm apps will support the 320x480 resolution of the screen and there is also a built-in launcher that is quite sazzy!

the other stuff, like the built-in voice recorder (used to be only found in pocket pcs), bundled palmsource web browser, mp3 player, among others, are also found in the new tungsten!

bottomline is, the only advantage the tungsten has is its built-in bluetooth capability (sony has a slot for awireless module but you'll have to buy it seperately)and its small and compact size (the NX70V will be the size of the NR70V but a bit thicker owing to the wireless module slot). even the "double-density" screen is overshadowed by the 320x480 resolution screen of the clie!

it will only be a matter of time before most, if not all, palm loyalists will be enlightened and choose tolive the sony pda way of life!

Okay, maybe not. =)

I have a TV remote. It has a sliding cover that hides a bunch of buttons that are seldom used. The kids slide that thing up and down, up and down all day long. Guess what? It doesn't stay closed anymore.

Adding moving parts to a device is a bad idea. Some are useful and reasonable. This one seems trivial and gratuitous.

"Palm Says Three New Models Coming Next Month"

(1) "Rumor: Picture of Palm Zire"
(2) "Rumor: Pictures and Details of Palm's Upcoming Smartphone"
(3) "Rumor: Picture of the Tungsten T"

I don't see where you fit a revamped M5xx into that mix.

The Tungsten W is the upcoming Smartphone but will be running under 4.1 OS as well.

The Tungsten T is the high end model & run with an ARM chip and OS 5.

The Veld got to be a middle range model. Replace the up and down button from the V/M5XX sseries with a D-Pad & upgrade the screen with high res. Unfortuantely, Since a mide range model goes between $300 - $400, it would probably run under Palm 0S 4.1. I would love High res+, ARM processor, & OS 5 in the m500 form factor.

___________________________________
Yankees, Steinbrenner,...... I will never turn to the dark side.

This thing is still a yawn compared to the highly innovative (and equally gimmicky) NR70 series. If Sony could equal Palm's features running off OS4 and a 66Mhz CPU, imagine what they'll do with OS5!

This comes stright from a Sony spokesperson who has asked me to help squash this rumor.

---
News Editor

Palm needs the money more than Sony. I'll gladly pay a premium to lift the company from its misery (Microsoft and Clie users are to blame).

1. Teeny tiny screen. 320 x 480 should have been standard in OS5 -- Sony's pretty much fixed that on their own -- Palm will have to use Sony's hand-me-down innovation like they did with the 320 x 320 screen next time to stay alive.

2. No jog dial - When will Palm wake up to the usefulness of a jog dial in scrolling pages for text documents/forms/ebooks?!

3. No soft grafitti. Why the waste of space when it could be used for more screen?!

Good Things:

1. 175 Mhz ... about freaking time! Wonder how much faster the Sony NR-90 unit will be compared to this one. Thanks PPC for making Palm have to get some muscle under the hood to attempt multimedia/real gaming.

2. Audio... about freaking time! Wonder if the unit will sound good or will it be tinny and unusable as an mp3 player. Thanks PPC/Sony for pushing Palm into the 21st century!

3. 320 x 320 screen.. well, better than 160 x 160. Thanks Sony for making this possible.

Think about what the Tungsten has over the Clies. First, a faster processor. Second, Bluetooth. If you want to add Bluetooth to a Clie you better fork over about $150-200.

Joe

Where are you getting this info? Source please?"

Tungsten is a greyish whiteish metalic element, Zire posibly comes from zirconium, which is also a greyish metalic element, which is very similar to titanium. As far as I know titanium is about the strongest/lightest metal we have been using. So my guess is Titanium. As above states is also highly possible as I believe the V to m505 are a Magnesium alloy. Very light silverish whiteish in colour, but as anyone who has owned a V to m505 it dents and scratches easily (the back if using just the leather flip cover). Titanium would be much stronger and hence the body could be thinner.

a) is color
b) has the same form factor
c) has the same battery life

Until then, I see no reason to upgrade. It's not worth the downgrade in battery life and size.

Give us always-on email and internet in a small, color device. At least as small as the Palm III, hopefully as small as the Palm V.

Trust me, Sony is the only way to go. The have the best form factor, the nicest designs, the longest battery life and the awesome screen. Sony is the KING!

Anyway, I had warned Ed and Ryan to get a good rest -- among the announcements coming up, I expect we might see several for MP3/video players.

If it's not designed specifically for mp3 playback, however, I wonder how cheapo the audio chip is in the unit. If Palm spent a little extra to get a LOUD and responsive chip then this would make a nice audio player. If they went cheap and low fidelity (and low volume) then this thing's only half the unit it could be.

That's where you are wrong my friend. Ask any Palm user on this site and they will tell you that the PalmOS is way better than PPC because it is more efficient(memory and battery),simpler, more powerful, less expensive, and I could go on but my hands hurt from trying to use a PPC.

----------------------------------------
Crack-smash! Splatter: The sound of the MLB using Pocket PC's instead of Baseballs.

True, there are less software titles available, but the software I have purchased (not much shareware) has been excellently designed and worth every penny. I can do everything I did with my Sony 615 and NR70V. The screen is large and clear enough for my tired eyes. And the built-in bluetooth is great.

The Windows interface is very easy to use and the device permits me to open multiple applications (without lockups) at the same time. A little piece of freeware (go figure) allows me to bounce between applications with a simple tap. Battery life is as good (or bad) as the new Sony's. Just something to get used to. The only drawback to date has been with adding and removing add-on attachments (camera sled, PC card sled). Might as well just plan on a warm reset. But hasn't Bill always had a problem with hot swapping.

So when am I supposed to grow tired of this device, 5 or 6 months? I am already looking at the new 3970's. Palm or Sony are going to have to show me a bit more to earn my bucks!

Just kidding but OS 5 is going to be bad for the PPC's market share. With both OSs using the same microprocessors and offering the same multimedia, it is going to come down to software (where the PalmOS has the clear advantage) and screens (where 320x320 or even 320x480 is clearly better than 320x240).

Add in the fact that PalmOS models running 400 MHz XScale microprocessors will really RUN at 400 MHz (not about 200 MHz like the iPaqs do) and the PalmOS pulls farther ahead. There aren't any XScale models announced yet but we already know Palm will put one out early next year and Sony, Handspring, and HandEra haven't said who will make the microprocessors for their new models.

The PalmOS already owns the lowend and midrange and soon it will take over the highend too.

Until Microsoft adds full support for the XScale processor, it doesn't matter how fast the XScales get. The iPaqs that use the 400 MHz XScale PXA250 are no faster than 200 MHz StrongARM ones. (Don't take my word for it, check the reviews.) An 800 MHz Xscale based iPaq will be the same speed. A 1 Billion MHz iPaq will be the same speed as a 200 MHz iPaq because the PocketPC OS isn't optimized for the XScale processor. Microsoft says it may release an XScale optimized version of Pocket PC in a few years.

I expect Sony to announce a handheld based on the PXA250 as early as next month.

Yes, you are correct, but take a close look at the benchmark results. A few of the functions are at least twice as fast (Media fps and screen display functions). However, most of the functions see only a slight improvement, and not the expected 2x. Some of the math functions are even slower on A600.

You are completely right about not having any hard data on OS 5... it's only been speculation and hearsay so far. It will be interesting to me to see the real benchmarks on media FPS. A 33Mhz Palm will do 24 fps fine, but I usually cut mine down to 15fps for anything longer than 5 minutes.

you do realize that all the machine on that table are 400Mhz Xscale do you? They are not a comparison between SA vs. Xscale ! (ie. the difference are brand and that Asus contains updated graphic driver)

if you have a wheelbarrow for your pda, then sure, spend the money on an ipaq. you'll need another wheelbarrow for the diesel generator to keep the thing going longer than 2 hours too.

You forgot the 320 by 320 screen (larger than any PPC), BlueTooth, MP3 playback, and a voice recorder. Oh yeah, it is going to be three times faster.

>BlueTooth, MP3 playback, and a voice recorder.
been there, done that. (can you add WiFi, CF, PCcard, sledge scanner, monitor adapter?)

>Oh yeah, it is going to be three times faster.
and where is the number? can you publish them, so we can have punch the Marketing department guy fest ala 16 bit screen? Last time i hear it's 3 time as fast as 33MhZ dragon ball, not a 400mHz xScale. That would bring Pocket TV at 150fps. (yeah right)

Tungsten has yet to prove that it can do all it promise as a multimedia capable PDA, instead of just m505 running on ARM.

I like the PPC. I have both a Jornada and a Genio e550G (which rocks by the way) but it is people like you who give the rest of us a bad name.

32 MB of RAM is not nearly enough for a decent resolution movie. Even PocketPC users resort to other means to make that type of thing happen (like mini harddrives).

Useable flash memory is FAR FAR better that more RAM. 64mb of RAM would have a significant draining effect on the battery even in 'OFF' mode, as compared to 16mb and more flash memory to put applications into eg DateBK5 etc.

Bruce B

Tunsten is mere a tool to set the expected price level and bring out the customers desire for more ram then, move in for the kill! Bang! the old Palm V to Palm Vx trick.

I'm not sure it will work this time. Too many competitors, Sony, Handera, Handspring and even some Japanese/Korea smartphone makers will all come in too quickly to ruin Palm's carefully cultivated market.

I remember saw a post by JM8571 at PDA Buzz forum back in 2001, stating that the old Dragonball processor is capable of addressing 8 pages of 16MB of memory. But the DRAM controller is capable of controlling only 2 banks, which are 8Mb apiece. Making the total DRAM capability 16 MB.

I do not believe the power consumption theory: saying 32Mb RAM is consuming 3 times more power than 16Mb RAM

Take a look at the comparison between Palm¡¯s top gun m515 and PPC¡¯s low end model Toshiba e310:

E310: 32M RAM,32MB FlashROM£¬CPU 206MHz Intel StrongARM£¬Screen 240x320, 64K TFT¡£
Palm 515: 16MB RAM, 4MB Flash ROM, CPU 33MHz Dragonball VZ, Screen 160x160£¬64k

Forget about the pricing issue. From hardware perspective, Palm has made killings, hasn¡¯t it?

The point is independent battery power endurance test has proved that the e310 with 32M RAM 202MHz CPU(with multimedia applications) is no inferior to Palm¡¯s 16M RAM 33MHz top gun. What¡¯s going on here? At similar physical dimension (battery technology), palm with smaller screen display, three times lower speed processor, these should have contributed to Palm¡¯s battery test advantages.

Fishy, isn¡¯t it, all about the more RAM eating that many batteries. The magnitude is exaggerated here.

Face it, other manufacturers are planning OS5 equipment. Customers will choose whichever model which give them less hustle and better support to legacy programs.

More flash is the answer, not more RAM. Palm has put in just enough RAM for legacy apps, but not enough so that developers keep on writing obsolete applications that can't run correctly out of memory cards.

I expect more built-in flash memory before anything like 64 MB of RAM on a PalmOS handheld.

Not sure how the Visor version handles it, but the SD version handles it quite nicely. You keep all your presentations on the card, select the presentation you want loaded, then pop out the card and insert the presenter. So as longer as any of the presentations are smaller than the available RAM, you can keep them all on the card.

On the down side, you have to put the card back in to get another presentation, but in most cases you only show one slide show for that event. But, even if you do run multiple presentations, the last image remains on the big screen even when the presenter is unpluged from the Palm. Presenter To Go keeps the image in the buffer and does not interrupt the signal to the VGA output unless it loses power. Getting another presentation from the card usually takes about 15 seconds.

Other than that, it works perfectly.

PS love my m515

BB

what is the criteria that OS 5.0 is better design than PPC or .net. for eg. 5.0 has an emulator layer, no multitasking, weak memory protection, carry over dragonball memory stucture legacy. etc.

can you confirm that iPAQ H500 is using PPC2002? (as you seems to imply saying not much change, instead of the new CE .net? Than you know more than average people outside the NDA community.)

Or is this all are just personal spin, a wishfull thinking, that Tungten is actually better, faster, cheaper than PPC?

Zayo A600: 4.9 oz.

I've never heard of it.

Size 4.5" x 3.1" x .5"
Weight 4.9 oz.

from palm.com

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com

Twice! think again...

A 175 MHZ OMAP ARM-925 benchmarks about 20 times faster than a 66 MHz DragonBall 68EC000 on optimized native code. It's the difference between a newer RISC implementation plus split I and D caches and a write buffer, versus an older two-level microcoded non-cached CISC implementation.

Tungsten probably won't sell huge like the m5xx series due to the cost. They will have a stake in the high end now though -- Palm really left the high end after Sony arrrived on the scene and put out REALLY innovative Palm devices. Palm's simply catching up and it's now Sony's turn to blow them away again with another NR series masterpiece.

You appear to have misread the article. Those are the dimensions for the SJ series, which I put in for reference. According to my source, the Tungsten T is 4 by 3 by .6 inches. 4.8 inches tall when open. I know the differences seem small but I think they are important.

> I'm not a big fan of moving parts, either. What purpose does it really
> serve if it's not that much smaller in "closed mode" vs. m515?

With the m515 being 4.5 inches and the Tungsten T being 4 inches, you get a size decrease of half an inch. I know that doesn't seem huge but it is significant in a device that is less than 5 inches tall.

---
News Editor

Don't spout lies. The Zayo (which I have right here) is bulky, has no battery life and crashes like every other PPC. I'm hearing reports about an issue with the SD/MMC slot, and dust under the screen. Beware!!

Palm waited to go color, when the time was right. Now they have the true ARM pda.

Palm m515:
4.5" x 3.1" x .5"
4.9 oz.

Palm Tungsten:
4" x 3" x .6" (4.8" tall open)
5.6 oz.

If im sitting in a meeting and i will have to refer to my NR70V about 10-15 times im not going to pull it out of my pocket, take it out of the case, pull out my stylus pen, switch from case mode to tablet mode and turn on the unit, input a sentence, turn it off switch from tablet mode to case mode, put away my stylus pen, put it back into the case then finally put it back into my pocket; then to have to repeat the process over again in a few seconds to input another sentence...

I'll just leave it in tablet form and leave it on the desk for the entire duration of the meeting...

jesus, lets think for a minute before we post silly things...

Then number of steps it takes you to make before you use your PDA is really a reflection of your intelligence....

Don't bother- to type this up on my laptop, I had to pull out the carry bag, unfasten the strap, undo the flaps (2!), put the laptop on the desk, plug in the phoneline, open the top, push the resume button... what was I doing?

To turn on the T, you can either:

- slide the device open, or
- press the D-pad button.

Pressing any other button won't work, otherwise it will accidentally come on in your pocket or purse.

So if you are simply looking up a phone number or appointment, use the button. If you are planning to enter some text, slide it open!

To turn off, you can either:

- slide the device closed, or
- press and hold the D-pad button.

The slide option is user-configurable, i.e. you can opt for:
- do nothing when slide is opened, or
- turn on when slide is opened.
- do nothing when slide is closed, or
- turn off when slide is closed.

009

I guess they should also get rid of zippers on pants, in case you get your fingers or other sensitive things caught in there. :)

> " Never has a new Palm device generated so many vehemently opposing comments!"

Never have I seen so much whining! I mean, the device is not perfect for me, but I like it, except the price.

I swear, if I see one more person who says they want Palm to innovate, I am going to lose it! :D I mean, you never hear this with desktop computers, but everyone wants innovation with a PDA. Yeah, give us innovation like that useless camera on the NR70!

Gordon

Did you know that to turn on the T, you can either:

- slide the device open, or
- press the D-pad button?

Pressing any other button won't work, otherwise it will accidentally come on in your pocket or purse.

To turn off, you can either:

- slide the device closed, or
- press and hold the D-pad button.

The slide option is user-configurable, i.e. you can opt for:
- do nothing when slide is opened, or
- turn on when slide is opened.
- do nothing when slide is closed, or
- turn off when slide is closed.

008

Compared to an NR-70 my friend, this will s*** all over it and I dont even know the stats. That is no comparrison, most Palm users are use to and would like something near the m505, m515 sort of range. I believe this is one reason why it has such low RAM and possibly uses other memory more efficietly, maybe more usable flash ram, whatever.

But my uneducated guess is definitely a noticable increase than an NR-70 if that is what you are use to.

It amazes me that someone who has probably only had one Palm unit in their life can speak for "most Palm users" and what they want.

Although I admit that batterylife of palm units are noticably better then Clies' there is a tradeoff. Personally i would rather have Sony's screens than Palms batteries. Palm certainly has the ability to put a hi-res or double density screen on their units but they know that it comes with a sacrifice in batterylife. Sony however with their famous stamina lithium batteries are able to use magnificant screens without too much sacrifice in batterylife and size.

If you think there are many reactions about this unit just wait until Sony announces their own OS5 unit

So there you go, you are a sony user or preferer. Like I said most Palm users would preferr something like m505 battery life. I have had one of every Palm released upto the Vx and then stuck with the Vx form factor - hence m505, m515, and most people at work use Palms, where the ones using WinCE are complementing the Palm on battery life continuously.

BUT you are totally correct. Its personal opinion, you prefer a big screen, I prefer battery life.

Mechanical slide with electric contacts on it to ensure the functional buttons and other components in touch. The signals will take more power to get over the hill of poor contacts.

Sorry Ian, this is so obviously incorrect I couldn't let it pass. You are partially correct, the battery life for the NR70/V does range from 3 to 6 hours but the m505's (with a non-adjustable backlight) is at least 12 hours. The m515 ranges from 6 to 12 hours, depending on backlight setting. The NR70/V is loaded with features but you are kidding yourself if you don't realize it comes at the expense of battery life.

You might argue that a continuous drain test isn't representative of a normal usage pattern, but it is equally unfair on all the units.

The NR70V and T665 are way cool handheld but their battery lives stink. I think you are some kind of wierd-o Sony fanatic. Or a high school kid. Or both.

I didn't start this. Someone posted dimensions in a very early message and all I did was copy them to another message and compare them to another PDA's dimensions. Then, later on, several other people posted contradictory dimensions. So: WHAT THE HELL ARE THE TRUE DIMENSIONS? Standing *and* squatting?

And has anyone yet said *what* the hell the squatting is *for*? Just because the designers could *do* it? What actual *functionality* does it add? I don't see any. (Unless Palm thinks as an MP3 player it should be tiny and, say, be used with an armband -- but even that is too slim to believe...)

P.S. I use my NR70 and camera to keep track of all my fish. I have two huge tanks and many varities. the camera feature on the NR70V comes in real handy.

Similarly, what programs support the D-PAD? Spreadsheets and browsers, and of course games will find it useful once they've been revised, but is it a good reason to buy a new PDA?

"Plus, how are you going to upgrade your Sony to OS 6?"

Don't recall saying I could; this was a comparison between currently available software/hardware; my point being that this doesn't offer anything to put it head and shoulders above currently available Palmpowered PDAs. Whenever OS5.5 or OS6.0 comes out, we should be looking at a new Palm, and if it doesn't come with more memory and virtual graffiti it's still going to be hard to sell it to high end users.

When processor-hungry worthwhile apps come along, maybe that'll change; but things like Flash and movie players that need the power are going to benefit from a non-square screen.

At least palm is trying to set and follow some industry wide standards such as SD/IO, 320X320, bluetooth and so on.

Give up on the Sony vs. Palm debate and GROW up.

That was the albatross ... and he is no longer on the board.

2. How do we look up a contact/event with just the d-pad? seems tedious to have to scroll through to get to Mr. "Zimmerman" from the beginning. Seems to be a bit*ch to have to pull apart each time.

3. No Cover? What protects the screen?

Are you just trying to blow smoke up our azz?

What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Cingular has the most reliable ------ that there ---! Why, just ----- last week --- had a ---- that did not drop out!

Joe

Joe